


feels like i'm falling in love alone

by FingertipsofRose



Series: college au hellfire [2]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-18
Updated: 2015-06-18
Packaged: 2018-04-05 00:58:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4159566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FingertipsofRose/pseuds/FingertipsofRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The aftermath of the previous night's party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	feels like i'm falling in love alone

David stared down at Jack’s sleeping form. It's common for people looked much younger while they were sleeping. Jack was a part of that group. He looked peaceful, and the silence in the room was a sweet blessing. Soon, Jack would be awake and hanging over David’s shoulder, bothering him for a magical cure to his hangover. The same thing happened the morning after every party that Jack attended, even the infrequent times that David didn’t accompany him.

David set the bottle of Advil that he had fetched from one of the bathrooms onto Jack’s small nightstand. The pills made a tiny rattling sound in the bottle. The small noise did not seem to be enough to drag Jack from his deep slumber just yet. The green cup of water that David had brought up from the kitchen went next to the bottle of ibuprofen. He was less careful about setting the second object down. The sound that emitted was louder, and a bit of the liquid splashed over the rim of the cup and onto the light wood of the bedside table.

David was not in the loveliest of moods that morning. Even in mornings when he’d had enough sleep, he wasn’t very pleasant until he had had his first cup of coffee. This morning was particularly bad, as he’d been awake until the early hours of the morning. The job of trying to guide Jack back to the house and wrestle him into his bed was a taxing one. The mirror in the bathroom had revealed the light purple bags under David’s eyes. He was tired, crabby, and overwhelmed with all he had to do that day.

He also wasn’t looking forward to the inevitable conversation he would have to have with his friend about the events of the night before. David’s money was on Jack not remembering anything that had happened. When David asked, He would cock his head, laugh, and apologize for being so forgetful, and for burdening David. David would lie and reassure Jack that he was never any trouble at all.

David would not allow himself to worry about what Jack would say when he woke up - he would not. He had more important things to worry about. There was a shift at work, a portion of a chapter to read for his European History class, a paper to write for his American Literature class, and it was his turn to wash the dishes after lunch. He didn’t have the time, nor the energy, to deal with the mess that he called his best friend.

That was what he told himself as he stared down at the guilty party. Part of Jack’s face was covered by his quilt, and a small puddle of drool sat next to his mouth. David shouldn’t be finding it cute, he should be finding it disgusting. But David couldn’t help shaking his head fondly and reaching down with a gentle hand to stroke Jack’s hair. Considering the results of any previous nights out on the town, Jack was going to have a monster of a headache when he woke up.

Part of David felt sorry for him, sorry that he had to spend most of his day feeling terrible, but the other part of David quietly giggled that he was getting what he deserved. Maybe it was the universe punishing Jack for torturing David whenever he decided to go out and drink his feelings away. Or whatever seemed to be his reason for drinking on any night.

Or maybe it wasn’t the universe at all. Maybe it was just a hangover, and the only one being punished for Jack’s behavior in the end, was David. David sighed and continued to stroke Jack’s hair. Was he a pushover? Was he pathetic for letting this go on and on, without ever bringing it up to Jack? Was it Jack’s right to know what went on during the nights when he decided to mess himself up? Those were questions that David did not know the answer to.

Those were also questions that David did not have time to ponder. The fish shaped analog clock that hung on the wall of David and Jack’s bedroom ticked loudly. David was wasting his morning worrying about Jack. It was out of his control now. He reluctantly pulled his hand out of his friend’s hair. Jack made a sound of protest in his sleep. David laughed, but didn’t replace his hand.

“Why’d you stop?” Jack muttered, his voice small and hoarse.

“Oh - I - I didn’t know you were awake.” David said, surprised and a bit embarrassed. Jack’s eyes opened slowly as his hand poked out from underneath the covers.

“Well don’t you look all - all put together this morning.” Jack observed, grabbing David’s hand and placing it back into his hair. “You look all nice, while I feel like someone’s using a fucking jackhammer inside my brain right now. Can you get me some -”

“It’s right there.” David pointed at the Advil and glass of water with his free hand.

“Aw, thank you Davey. You’re the best.” Jack smacked his lips together, clearly noticing the disgusting taste that comes from not brushing one’s teeth before bed. David didn’t even want to imagine how awful Jack’ breath must be.

Jack struggled with the childproof bottle cap for a moment before wordlessly offering it to David. David took it and opened it easily. He shook two pills out and handed them to Jack.

“You’re nineteen years old, Jack. I don’t think you have any excuse to be unable to open a childproof bottle. You haven’t been a true child for quite a few years.” The corners of Jack’s mouth turned up slightly at the teasing from his friend.

“You don’t know me.” He tossed the pills into his mouth and swallowed them without drinking any of the water.

“Come on, Jack! You can’t dry swallow pills! You’re going to burn a hole in your throat or something!” David scolded loudly before scooting the glass toward him.

“Can we please use inside voices?” Jack asked with a wince. He obeyed David’s command about drinking the water without any protest.

“You need to eat something if you take that medicine.”

“I feel like death, I’m not eating shit.” Jack snorted.

“Well, don’t come crying to me when you get a stomachache from taking pills on an empty stomach.” David said gruffly before turning away from Jack.

“But I know how much you like it when I come crying to you!”

“I do not like it at all.”

“Come on, Davey! You love me.” Jack teased. David tensed. Jack’s words were familiar. His teasing sounded similar to what he had been babbling about the previous night. David’s first thought was that maybe Jack remembered what had happened. David turned abruptly to look at Jack. Jack looked startled by the sudden movements. “What’s the matter?”

“Jack!” David exclaimed, hope bringing color into his voice. Jack appeared to be confused. “Jack, do you remember what you said last night?”

“Uh, what part of last night?” Jack asked. David’s face fell.

“When we were walking home?” The hope in David’s voice had shriveled into something tired and frustrated.

“Fuck, Dave. I don’t remember shit about walking home. I don’t even remember leaving the party,” Jack guffawed, as if drinking oneself into incoherence was the funniest thing in the world to him. David’s chest tightened. “Why? Was it funny? Tell me what I said.”

David took a deep breath and turned away once again. “No. It was stupid. Never mind.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading :)
> 
> also... whoops, sorry i haven't done much updating for the last 2.5 weeks on my other fic. i'm not abandoning it, i promise! just taking a little break to work on another project!


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